Saturday, June 2, 2012

In a personal Blog post titled “BJP: A Hub of Hope”, Shri
L.K.Advani, former Deputy Prime Minister and senior leader of the BJP, has
stated as follows: “I had said at the Core Group meeting that if people are
today angry with the U.P.A. Government, they are also disappointed with us. The
situation, I said, calls for introspection.” (http://blog.lkadvani.in/blog-in-english/bjp-a-hub-of-hope
)

2. Even as the analysts were discussing the
significance of his Blog post, an article in the latest issue of “Panchajanya”,
the journal of the RSS, has also expressed openly disquiet over certain recent
developments in the BJP focussed on the efforts of some elements supporting the
candidature of Shri Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister to force their
will on the RSS and the BJP.

4. While Shri Advani’s Blog post talks in general
about the public perception of the state of affairs in the party without naming
anyone, the “Panchajanya” article makes no secret of the fact that it has been
triggered by the pressure tactics adopted by the supporters of NaMo to force
the party to accept NaMo as the prime ministerial candidate even before the
next elections.

5. While it would be unreasonable to expect the BJP
and the RSS to be more specific in their concerns, these have come to the fore
in the context of the recent stepped- up efforts of the supporters of
NaMo---many of them NRIs based in the US--- to see that NaMo is accepted by the
BJP and the RSS as the prime ministerial candidate.

6. Since the beginning of last year, I have been
drawing attention to the Nazi Storm Trooper-like methods adopted by many
followers of NaMo to impose their will on their party and then the nation.
Anyone aware of the methods used by the Nazi Storm Troopers to force the German
people to accept Hitler as their leader would be struck by the similarity of
the rhetoric and PSYWAR methods used by these pro-NaMo elements whom I have
been referring to as the NaMo Brigade.

7. They do
not call themselves the NaMo Brigade, but they make no secret of the fact that
they support NaMo as the next Prime Minister of India. Their worrisome methods,
reminiscent of the methods used by the Storm Troopers, consist largely of abuse,
vituperation, disinformation, character assassination and psychological
pressure. Whereas the Nazi Storm Troopers did not have the benefit of the
computer and the Internet, the NaMo Brigade, which has established a dominance
over the means of propaganda through the Net in the absence of any opposition
to their methods from secular and liberal elements, has been using the social
media networks in their PSYWAR.

8. Nobody can object to their campaign in favour of
NaMo as the Prime Minister despite his perceived misdeeds of the past. But one
has reasons to be concerned over the ways adopted by these elements in an
attempt to enforce their will on the nation. If they succeed due to lack of
adequatepublic knowledge of the sinister
implications of their strategy and the inadequate attempts to counter their
methods, the nation may have to pay a heavy price.

9. India needs a strong, efficient and effective
ruler, but not a Hitler. That ruler has to be chosen by the people through
their free will and not imposed on them through stage-managed and orchestrated
pressure.

10. It is time to sound a wake-up call about the
dangerous implications of the pressure tactics and Storm Trooper methods being used to force the BJP, the RSS and the Nation
to accept NaMo who is being sought to be projected by these elements as God’s
own choice to rule India at this critical juncture.

11. While it is up to the political parties to draw
up their respective strategy to ensure that such methods do not find a place in
our political landscape, it is important for others too to educate public
opinion on the activities of these elements and the great harm that they can
cause to our democracy.

12. The new strategy to be worked out should focus
not on the past misdeeds of NaMo, but on the future misdeeds that are likely to be
committed by these elements if their methods succeed. ( 3-6-12)

I will be 76 on August 14. On October 24, it will
be three years since the metastasised cancer in my urinary tract was detected and
the hormonal therapy ( total androgen blocade) started.

2. The therapy is based on the discovery that any
cancer of prostate origin shrinks if it is denied the male sex hormone that
acts as a fertiliser for the tumour. I had to undergo an injection once in
three months and take a hormonal tablet called Calutide 50 every day. The
course of injections was stopped after two years in November last. According to
my doctor, if the injections are continued for more than two years, the bones
tend to get brittle.

3. This was the least aggressive of the therapies
available and I chose it. The other options, that were more aggressive and
often more effective, were surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. They cause
considerable side-effects and hence I decided not to have them.

4. By the time my cancer, which started in the
prostate, was detected, it had spread to the urinary bladder, nearby bones and
some lymphnodes. Surprisingly, my PSA
(Total and Free) levels, which give the first indication of the presence of the
cancer in the prostate, were normal. The scans showed the cancer in the
bladder, but not in the prostate. It was detected only during a diagnostic
procedure. The spread of the cancer to some bones and lymphnodes was detected
during a scan with radioactive isotopes.

5. It was graded as high grade cancer of prostate
origin, but the cancer had no effect on my energy, weight and appetite and I
had no pain anywhere in the body. The first external symptom that led to the
detection was the presence of heavy blood in the urine.

6. The only two discomforts caused so far by the
cancer and therapy are constipation and a slight pain in my right feet since
last November. The doctors had cautioned me that the spread of the cancer to
some bones could cause heavy back pain and radiating pain in the upper parts of
the legs. This has not happened so far.

7. The therapy caused the cancer in the prostate to
shrink totally and in the bladder partially. Since I never took a bone scan, I
do not know anything about the cancer in the bones or lymphnodes. The doctor
has also not insisted on a bone scan. Since I have had no pain, I have presumed
that it has not spread.

8. Before the cancer was detected, I used to be a daily
drinker of Scotch and Soda---taking two large pegs every day and three on
Saturdays. After the detection, on the doctor’s advice, I reduced it to three or
four days a month, but during my recent visits to Delhi I was drinking almost
daily with friends.

9. In July last year, the Government of India
sought my assistance in an advisory capacity to enable the Task Force on
National Security headed by Shri Naresh Chandra, former Cabinet Secretary,
complete its work. My elder brother was strongly against my accepting it since
he feared that it might render me weak, but I accepted it. I used to travel to
Delhi three times a month spending about 12 to 15 days every month there. In
May, I spent 18 days---- 11 of them continuously.

10. During my stay in Delhi, I used to work from 10
AM to midnight---- with an one-hour break for lunch and two hours for dinner. I
withstood the strain remarkably well as if I was a 40-year-old healthy person.
I was amazed by my energy level despite the two discomforts mentioned above
which continued.

11. Normally, human reactions to the detection of
cancer vary from individual to individual. Many withdraw into a shell and avoid
sharing with friends and others except close relatives the news of their cancer.
Some share with relatives, but not with friends. Some share with everybody. I
am told the majority of the cancer patients tend to become depressed when the disease
is detected.

12.In my case, I have remained cheerful from the
beginning. I share freely all details of my cancer and the treatment with whoever
is interested on my own without their having to ask me questions. An American
friend of mine once jocularly remarked: "Raman is the first cancer patient
known to me who brags in public about his cancer as if he has achieved
something great by getting cancer.”

13.My cheerfulness and my readiness to share have
kept my morale sustained. Sometimes, some of my Twitter buddies are surprised by the
loud-tweeting I do about my cancer and think I must be depressed, but I am never
depressed.

14. But I am bothered often by the thought not of pain starting, but of my developing a
dependence on others if the cancer spreads further. I have always been a
self-reliant person. Never in my life have I been dependent on others in
personal matters. The feeling (not fear) that I might one day become dependent
on others bothers me.

15. My calm disposition and my habit of always
looking at the brighter side of life have helped me in my fight against the
cancer. I felt proud of myself when my Doctors remarked last year that I have
driven the cancer out of my body through sheer will power and not through the
therapy.

16. All human beings like to be praised. Cancer
patients are no exception. The morale of cancer patients goes up when they are
told that they are looking normal and do
not look like cancer patients. During my frequent visits to Delhi, my morale
used to go up every time I was complimented on my normal energy level. I was myself amazed by it and I
used to feel very happy when others noticed it and remarked on it.

17. Please don’t tell a lie to a cancer patient. By
doing so, you are not helping him or her. But if you find a cancer patient looking
good and doing well, don’t hesitate to tell him as sincerely as you can.

18. Cancer patients have their good moments and bad
moments. I too though I try not to show my mood changes. If you find us
occasionally irritable or nasty, try to understand us. Those are passing
phases.

19. There are two things I miss greatly—my daily S
& S and my foreign travels. Inside India, I have been travelling as
frequently and as vigorously as I used to do before the cancer was detected in
October 2009. I used to travel abroad for discussions and seminars seven or
eight times a year. I have stopped all my foreign travels since September 2009.
My doc has been encouraging me to resume my foreign travels. But I am hesitant
due to a fear that if internal bleeding or pain starts during my stay abroad,
my hosts might be put to difficulty.

20. As I often say, I have learnt to peacefully
co-exist with my cancer. There is a lovely song of Georges Moustaki, the French
singer of Greek origin, titled “Ma Solitude”. He sings: “ I never feel alone
because my Solitude always keep me company and sleeps with me in bed.”

21. I never feel depressed because my cancer and I have learnt to live
and sleep with each other. My cancer is my live-in companion. ( 2-6-12)